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After
a Gujarati and Punjabi channel, RiTV will launch a 24-hour
Marathi channel during this fiscal year.
 The
channel will however steer clear of the current crop of
Marathi channels that cater predominanty to urban life styles
and will instead target rural and semi urban viewers. It
will include programming closer to the dreams, hopes, aspirations
and lifestyles of this group, an official release says.
Agriculture and rural development content will thus be the
driving force for success, according to RiTV. The broadcaster
also has plans to start a Metro channel this year, which
will focus on the SEC A segment in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore,
a market which the company feels is ideal for a host of
nice/exclusive, high profile brands.
The company will invest Rs 40.4 million in the Metro channel
and Rs 20.2 million for starting the Marathi channel. The
Metro channel will source content from all the three ad
heavy cities, covering social events, product launches,
local self government, law and order issues, business news
and Bollywood news, according to RiTV managing director
Subhash Menon.
RiTV also has commenced production of regional films for
television audiences in Punjabi, Gujarati, Marathi and Hindi/Urdu,
all of which will be premiered on the RiTV bouquet of channels,
he says.
The company, which has firmed up plans of diluting 30 per
cent stake is aiming to raise Rs 200 million this year.
The funds will be used to launch the two new channels and
create fresh software. The current fiscal will see RiTV
producing 12 Punjabi movies and six Gujarati and Marathi
movies each, a number that is expected to go even higher
next year. The company has given the mandate for diluting
stake to consulting firm Ernst & Young, which has valued
the company at Rs 540.3 million. RITV has a programming
library that comprises an estimated 3,500 hours of content,
valued by Ernst & Young at almost Rs 90 million.
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